Syllables
by J-awesomeness
Summary: When he decided he would catch the Avatar to restore his honor, he wasn't expecting a package deal. He didn't want to fight a girl.
1. Chapter 1

Please. If I owned Avatar, Katara and Aang wouldn't have gotten together. It would've been her and Zuko.

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Her wintery aroma crept up into his noise every time he found the avatar. Sometimes when he was just thinking of the perfect moment when he would catch the airbender he could swear he smelled _her_. The waterbender.

When he decided he would catch the Avatar to restore his honor, he wasn't expecting a package deal. He didn't want to fight a girl.

It wasn't that he was afraid of losing. He didn't have enough pride left in himself to care about that. It was just that he was jealous. Here he was, fighting for honor, and there she was, proving just how much honor she had. Strutting around like an important person because she was helping the avatar, because her parents were proud of her, because her sibling wasn't a psychopath.

He hated her. But at the same time, he couldn't help but think about her whenever he wasn't occupied thinking of strategies.

She was more graceful than anyone he had ever seen, even Ty Lee. Maybe that was because this waterbender, deep down, felt she had something to prove. Show the world that she wasn't just a water tribe girl, but a savior for all the nations. It disgusted him, because it came so easily to her, proving what she was worth.

And he would, if he had to, swear on his uncle's life that he had never seen a person more beautiful than this waterbender. Not even Mai could compare. Her eyes could tell a story, her smile could light up a room better than any firebender, and her hair's radiance could match the ocean's.

He had rarely felt more confused as to how to feel about a person. He had to fight this waterbender almost daily. He should hate her, should want to finish her off like he wanted to do to the Avatar. But part of him had to admire her, respect her. She was doing everything he couldn't, and she didn't even have a visible scar to remind her of the times she'd failed.

Each time he thought about her, each time he fought her, he found another thing to love about this girl. Her determination, her fierceness, her care for the Avatar and her brother, her beauty, her fighting techniques, her attitude, her everything.

After a long day of searching for the Avatar, a part of his brain said he let the trio go for a reason. A three syllable, breathtaking reason.

_Katara._

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So, this is my second Avatar fanfic, but I do believe this is a lot better than my first. I've been watching a lot more Avatar lately, and I just think Zuko is the most dynamic character. Plus, I think him and Katara make the perfect couple. (: So, I decided to write this after a burst of inspiration struck me last night. I will most likely put a second chapter on how Katara feels about Zuko.

Anyway, I really hope you've enjoyed reading this. Please review ! (:


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer : I do not, and will never, own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

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She was told to hate him, told to hurt him, told to avoid him. She was perfectly fine with that. It's not as though she enjoyed anything about that firebender. Not his fascinatingly golden eyes or his unusual (to her, at least) Fire Nation clothes and especially not his smoky smell that came to her senses so often.

She knew she was obligated to help the Avatar. To be perfectly honest, there was nothing in the world that she'd rather do. But she didn't want to battle _him._ It didn't feel right.

He was a teenager, just like her. What could possibly possess him to do this as a living? She knew the Fire Nation was after the Avatar, but to become this desperate? It hurt her to watch, experience, remember all their encounters.

But she didn't pity him. She knew the Fire Nation was strict and everyone disciplined, but she also knew how rebellious teenagers could be. Maybe the firebender didn't want this to be his life, but it was not as though he did anything to keep it from overtaking his thoughts.

And something in her felt like respecting, maybe even admiring that about him. The reason she was helping the Avatar was because she found him, and she wanted something more than the Southern Water Tribe could offer. The reason the firebender was working so hard to capture the Avatar… It seemed to be something so much more. Almost too much more.

She wanted to know more about him. Maybe it was his scar that always managed to freeze her as she did to her opponents, maybe it was the way he was fierce and violent in his bending where she was graceful and calm. Or maybe, and she knew this was a stretch, it was the way she could swear his golden eyes looked at her in such a different way than anyone in the Fire Nation should look at a Water Tribe girl.

It warmed her heart, and for those brief seconds where he stared at her, she felt just like how every firebender must feel every second of their life: As if there was a fire in their soul that controlled their every movement, that took control of every thought.

And she hoped, prayed even, that whenever she looked at him, a chilling feeling took control of him.

He was ferocious, marching and grunting and swiftly moving his limbs to create a stunning piece of art, even if it was just a single flame. It seemed like every move he made, every fiery creation he seized told a story of its own that the firebender refused to say aloud. It took her breath away, and every time she saw his ship or saw him edging his way to the trio, she almost wanted to smile.

But she couldn't. Because he's a firebender and she's a waterbender and they just don't mix. Obviously, clearly, (and if she's being completely honest with herself) heartbreakingly.

She had to keep telling herself this, even though each time she did she didn't want to believe herself. She wanted to say she was being ridiculous.

And a part of her brain told her that she was, because her brain knew there was a reason that she never used her powerful bending that she normally would. And that was a two-syllable, exhilarating reason.

_Zuko._

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Oh god, I liked my first chapter so much more than this. But. Oh well, I still like this one a lot, too. Anyway, as I was writing this chapter, I realized I wanted to write more. Maybe when they were, like, "buddies" in Book Three. I don't know, it's still an idea in the making.

I hope you liked this chapter. Please review ! (:


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